I recently inherited a '79 2000 Spider FI from my grandfather. He loved this car and no-one else in my family wanted to keep it after he passed so I ended up with it ! Super excited to get it running correctly. Currently chasing down fuel system issues as the car is running rich. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Welcome! A question: Was fuel injection added to your car? 1979 spiders came with a carburetor, and FI wasn't introduced until 1981 (1980 for California cars).
18Fiatsandcounting wrote:Welcome! A question: Was fuel injection added to your car? 1979 spiders came with a carburetor, and FI wasn't introduced until 1981 (1980 for California cars).
-Bryan
I have no clue to be honest. I’m trying to locate my Grandfathers files he kept about everything to do with the car. The title says 1979 but the VIN is 124CS20153066 If that helps
It definitely is a 1979 from the VIN. If it truly has fuel injection, someone added it which requires a pretty monumental effort. Not only the cost of the parts, but the ignition, fuel plumbing, engine monitoring and electronics have to be redesigned.
Yep, that's the Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection system. Looks like it was added to the engine as there is some evidence that the engine is not the fuel injected version. For example, to the right of that blue rag in your picture, that open port looks like the old air injection manifold connection, which the FI versions didn't have. Also, the Auxiliary Air Valve (AAV) is in a "non-stock" location, and the windshield washer bag doesn't look to be in the stock location either. I could be wrong on that last one.
See if you can find the engine number which will be stamped on a flat flange to the rear of the oil filter mounting flange on the driver side. Not the engine casting number which is higher up on the block near the intake manifold flange. The engine number is stamped into the metal and will be something like (for a 79 spider): 132C2.031 or 132C2.040. Perhaps 132C3.031.
The cylinder head casting number might also be useful, and that is cast into the top of the head between the #2 and #3 spark plug wells.
Loving this thread. This is exactly why I built this site 26 years ago! Congrats on the car and much appreciation to the great members of this forum for providing excellent advice.
! Super excited to get it running correctly. Currently chasing down fuel system issues as the car is running rich. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!